I am working on possibly making some 88 front wheel bearing hubs that will have tapered roller bearings in them instead of the typical ball bearings. This will take some time. Hopefully I will get this done. We'll see.
------------------ Rodney Dickman
Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page: All new web page!:www.rodneydickman.com Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories 7604 Treeview Drive Caledonia, WI 53108 Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575
I would also offer custom bolt patterns!!! Ideally, I would also like to see you make wheel bearing for pre88's as well with custom bolt patterns as I seem to have a problem getting quality ones... :/
They will be OEM replacements. I doubt I will try to make different variations.
------------------ Rodney Dickman
Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page: All new web page!:www.rodneydickman.com Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories 7604 Treeview Drive Caledonia, WI 53108 Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575
This is good news for those of us with 1988's. I will be keeping an eye on this thread. Rodney's products are always far superior to just about everything thats on the market today. They may not be cheap, but you get what you pay for, and then some.
Rodney, Please keep up the good work, and please keep us updated.
~ Bob ~
------------------ "Its nice to be important. Its more important to be nice."
If I can afford them when they come out, I'm definitely in for a set. I got one of your aluminum Getrag slave cylinders when they came out even though I didn't need one at the time. When I finally did need a replacement, all I had to do is grab one off my shelf.
If it weren't for the quality products you sell, my Fiero wouldn't be on the road today. Thank you!
Are these going to be made to allow for rebuilding? Will the inner/outer races be removable or will they be integral with the housing/flange stub shaft?
Are these going to be made to allow for rebuilding? Will the inner/outer races be removable or will they be integral with the housing/flange stub shaft?
They will not be rebuild-able. Once assembled you have to destroy them to disassemble them. This also eliminates any type of threaded nut failure etc. There is not enough room in there to have a removable nut. The bearing surface is also part of the unit and not replaceable.
------------------ Rodney Dickman
Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page: All new web page!:www.rodneydickman.com Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories 7604 Treeview Drive Caledonia, WI 53108 Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575
I like the idea of a modern front hub for the 88's and the suggestion of offering different stud circle diameters is great.
Modern bearings use balls. The rollers will be used for higher load capacity. Modern tires, especially race tires, put loads on the suspension that it was not designed to handle. As delivered by GM, the wheel bearings are the weakest link.
Understood, but it would be great if you could at least offer an option to leave the bolt circle undrilled so those of us so inclined (and properly equipped) can do it themselves. Whatever you do, please don't make the hub flange diameter any smaller than the OEM '88 front hubs, which are just large enough to accommodate a bolt circle up to 120 mm (4.75 in) with an adequate safety margin.
[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 12-07-2011).]
Sounds like an interesting product addition. Thumbs up on the idea! I have an '88 GT 3800 SC Series II project that could use this product in the future, once it gets ready for the road.
[This message has been edited by hdryder (edited 12-06-2011).]
Whatever you do, please don't make the hub flange diameter any smaller than the OEM '88 front hubs, which are just large enough to accommodate a 120 mm (4.75 in) bolt circle with an adequate safety margin.
They will be the same diameter as OEM. 147.2 mm.
------------------ Rodney Dickman
Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page: All new web page!:www.rodneydickman.com Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories 7604 Treeview Drive Caledonia, WI 53108 Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575
I also would "vote" for undrilled, and a little larger would be great but not absolutely necessary. Running 130mm pattern on both of mine, it will just fit on the stock hub.
Having said that, we will be happy just to have the new ones available. Thanks, Rodney
They will be OEM replacements. I doubt I will try to make different variations.
How about putting two sets of holes at different bolt circle diameters to cover OEM and the next popular size? Then, studs can be put into the bolt circle of choice. This allows for some variety with no variations. I'm not very familiar with these hubs, but this sounds like a good compromise.
Originally posted by Rolling Thunder: How about putting two sets of holes at different bolt circle diameters to cover OEM and the next popular size? Then, studs can be put into the bolt circle of choice. This allows for some variety with no variations. I'm not very familiar with these hubs, but this sounds like a good compromise.
That's likely not feasible. The hubs have access holes so that you can use a Torx drive to attach the bearing unit to the knuckle:
The better option would be to produce a hub flange that has the access holes in it, but no lug stud holes. the flange could be marked at 72° increments to show the axis along which the lug studs would need to be drilled, and people who want a different lug pattern diameter would have to get the hub flanges drilled themselves.
The design and engineering is for the most part finished. I still have a few things to look at. I may consider making some with no wheel stud holes. It will be a long time before I would have any on hand. Something like this always takes a long time. Maybe by next fall/winter? At this time I'm fairly confident it will happen.
------------------ Rodney Dickman
Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page: All new web page!:www.rodneydickman.com Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories 7604 Treeview Drive Caledonia, WI 53108 Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575
The design and engineering is for the most part finished. I still have a few things to look at. I may consider making some with no wheel stud holes. It will be a long time before I would have any on hand. Something like this always takes a long time. Maybe by next fall/winter? At this time I'm fairly confident it will happen.
The design and engineering is for the most part finished. I still have a few things to look at. I may consider making some with no wheel stud holes. It will be a long time before I would have any on hand. Something like this always takes a long time. Maybe by next fall/winter? At this time I'm fairly confident it will happen.
Thanks, Rodney. Have any design changes been made to the spindle to ensure that it is strong enough (or at least stronger than the original)? Is the bearing pair set up with cups or cones outboard? You've already mentioned that the race is part of the unit... Is the inner race integral with the spindle or the outer race with the housing (both)?
Everyone interested should note that dual tapered rollers are for high performance, high load applications. OEM's use ball bearings because they have lower friction than rollers. As we already know, for small bearings like the '88 front hubs and various GM small pattern FWD hubs, the contact stress at the ball interface brinels and spalls the races, when the car is driven to its potential on high performance or race tires. This is especially bad when the outer bearing inner race is integral with the spindle as it is on many of the GM bearings. The tapered rollers have greater contact area, lower contact stress and are better able to handle this load.
If you keep good records, you may notice a slight drop in gas mileage after switching to the tapered rollers.
I never wanted an 88 because of the bearing problems (finding a reliable replacement) that go with them, looks like I can now buy that 88 I always wanted.
I may consider making some with no wheel stud holes.
2 words: Group Buy
I'm sure you buy these in batches because one-offs are expensive and a hassle. If an order for a specific bolt pattern got large enough (a group buy), then I'm sure it's worth the trouble.
